Recommendations: non-skid paint

[South Pacific]

Sprinkle Epsom Salts lightly over wet paint. The salts will “fizz” on the paint and form a crater which gives a good, easy to clean non-slip surface, which won’t wreck your wet weather gear or your skin.
Hose off when the paint is dry to remove the Epsom Salts. Try on a board first to get the sprinkle density right.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by allanbranch

Looking for opinions on non-skid paint that I can roll on. My last sailboat I just bought whatever was at west marine. This time I'm doing more research.

What do you recommend and why?

My boat is 30'

First question - why?

Why are you considering painting the deck?

If the deck has required significant repairs, that is a good reason for refinishing.

Second question - what is the originAl non-skid? If random textured gelcoat, that can be matched fairly reasonably. If patterned gelcoat, that can be repaired fairly easily.

So why use a non durable finish like paint.

I repair decks professionally. First preference is match the original nonskid. Second preference is A two part paint with polymer beads. Last preference is kiwigrip. Won't even touch silica sand. (Too abrasive.)

[SF Bay Dude]

Originally Posted by captjcook View Post
Silica sand crushes and shatters. Griptex is plastic, comes in three grits, apply with spray gun, a bit lower pressure to get uniform non-skid pattern. With Awlgrip, a small pressure washer and a bit of deck brush with soap keep it clean.

Originally Posted by minaret

This.

I think you need to find what suits your needs. Griptex is nice, but I wanted something more aggressive. I mixed silica and griptex together to find the perfect finish. Do a test patch with different possibilities. I bought a quart of Kiwigrip. Best $50 I ever spend to know I didn't like the stuff.

You can get great results rolling it on. Let's be honest, Minaret is a pro in every sense of the word and has high standards. That requires know how, proper tools and equipment + knowhow. Spraying would be nice, but probably not going to happen for most DIY folks doing a deck job.

Test patches are your friend.

[captjcook]

After prep/repair/fairing/545. Roll the Awlgrip, spray the dry Griptex, a $15 Harbor Freight detail gun works fine. Roll Awlgrip topcoat the next day, We add about half the flattening agent recommended on the can to kill extreme gloss/glare in the topcoat. Extra course is serious...mostly use course. I really don't think this is beyond any knowledgable/studied diy'er.

I spent a month of evenings trying to save my own precious diamond pattern non-skid, repairing chips and stress cracks...Most observers probably would not have noticed. In Hinckley's book, he mentions he had seen some really good repairs but always saw the repair. Ground it all off with an 8"...My boat looks 25 years newer.


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[minaret]

Originally Posted by captjcook

After prep/repair/fairing/545. Roll the Awlgrip, spray the dry Griptex, a $15 Harbor Freight detail gun works fine. Roll Awlgrip topcoat the next day, We add about half the flattening agent recommended on the can to kill extreme gloss/glare in the topcoat. Extra course is serious...mostly use course. I really don't think this is beyond any knowledgable/studied diy'er.

I spent a month of evenings trying to save my own precious diamond pattern non-skid, repairing chips and stress cracks...Most observers probably would not have noticed. In Hinckley's book, he mentions he had seen some really good repairs but always saw the repair. Ground it all off with an 8"...My boat looks 25 years newer.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Way to go. I often talk people in to doing this. I can do a perfect repair on diamond skid, but the cost is astronomical (super time consuming). Griptex is easy to do nice repairs on. Extra Coarse is danger sharp, only use it on commercial boats. I use a 50/50 mix of coarse and fine. Provides the grip of coarse without being a skin remover.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

I just used Silica Sand, & some Pettit one part polyurethane, as did the friends who recommended this non-skid method.
Just make sure that you do your cleaning, & prep work, including taped borders, etc. Roll on a coat of paint, tipping where appropriate, & sprinkle on the sand while it's wet. And once things dry, brush off the loose sand, & roll on a couple more coats.

The reason I specifiy Silica Sand (as was passed on to me) is that there's No IRON in it. So that you won't get any rust streaks in your finish later on, as you would using more common types of sand.
And a bag or three of it, at a Builder's supply is dirt cheap, no pun intended.

But it makes for great non-skid. And honestly, you're better off with decks which are a bit "too sticky" than the other way around. So err on the coarse side. I mean, obviosly it's a safety thing.

The trick to preserving the seat in your foulies, is to slip a pair of heavier weight shorts overtop of your pants. And they wind up taking the wear from the decks, in additon to giving you a few easy to access pants pockets.
Just a pair of drawsrring type, that also has elastic in the waist works. And they're cheap. Plus, they have a big range of adjustability, for when you're varying how many layers you have on under your foulies. Unlike ones which zip up, & require a belt.

I have used the above technique with Petit One Part and Petit Non Skid beads with excellent success. Renewal of the nonskid surface is very simple and can be done in two days: 1st day sand, paint and apply beads; 2nd day apply finish coat. The surface is tenacious and has held up quite well after several years. Good luck and safe sailing.